The Full Moon in the Night Sky
by whimsicism
Summary: Mainly about what happens in the three years after Takuto disappeared in the manga, covers the last "Full Moon" concert aftermath. Character death. Last chapter: Takuto now up!
1. Fullmoon's last concert

**A/N: Wanted to write something about Full Moon, so just thought about it (kind of vaguely) for a week or so before settling on an idea...**

**Then I spent even longer hesitating (I can't write really sad scenes well because I'd start crying halfway and chicken out, but I was okay with this one.)**

**Material is used from both the anime and manga, so there will be spoilers ahead.**

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Look up for the full moon, shining brightly in the night sky

Mitsuki bowed, feeling the adrenaline run through her. The happiness she always got from singing. The happiness she now had from _living_. She remembered her grandmother's words. _"Living an ordinary life... holding lots of little happinesses...or...dying, holding one big happiness...I think either is acceptable." _She smiled at the thought. _Grandmother... I'm not just doing that... I'm living in big happinesses now._

_I've found a place where I can shine... _she thought to herself, grateful that she had a chance to live, knowing that Eichi wouldn't mind. Nothing could taint her happiness.

Above her, the full moon shone brightly, accompanied by the sparkling stars, scattered like diamond dust across the velvet carpet of the heavens. She looked up, breathing in the crisp night air, and smiled to herself. She had always thought that she was alone, a lone moon in the vast sky, but she had finally opened her eyes to all those around her. Eichi hadn't been the only one... there had been Meroko... Izumi... Wakaoji... Ooshige... they had all helped her.

Most of all... Takuto. He had been determined to make her survive. Together, they had created the transient, but beautiful, dream of the Full Moon. Anything too beautiful would never be able to last. She knew that. Everyone did. She couldn't make the dream last forever, but she could make it shine even brighter. Even if it's just for that moment, even if it would become nothing but a mere memory, even if it would fade to nothingness in the relentless march of time, it would have been there. The Full Moon.

The shinigami had listened, feeling Mitsuki's feelings in their hearts, the happy, yet wistful, sound of her dulcet tones communicating her emotions to everyone. The sound of her voice had lingered in the still air for a moment, holding the silence, before being broken by the applause.

Takuto struggled to hold on to the world, alone, but when the pull of memories dragged shinigami away, it was impossible to resist, no matter how much he wished to do so. He wanted to stay by Mitsuki's side, to keep the dream alive forever. He couldn't do it. He would be dragged away, to become a ghost, a spiritual entity with neither name or memories, or even a sense of self, in an instant. Takuto bade farewell to the world.

_Because nothing beautiful lasts forever_

_No matter how hard we try to keep it alive_

_We can only make it shine_

_As brightly as it can_

_While it's still alive_

_Dreams cannot be relived_

_Because..._

_All dreams have to come to an end_

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A/N: The end of the "Aoiro no An'utsu" 's debut then...

**BTW, for those who don't actually know Japanese, or haven't checked translation websites and are about to, "Aoiro no An'utsu" means something like "Blue Melancholy". Feel free to point it out if I'd made a mistake in the name.**


	2. Tears, lies and self doubt

_Chapter Two—Self-doubt and lies_

"_Eichi!" Mitsuki ran after him, stumbling every now and then on the roots and branches which lined the floor of the sakura forest. He turned back, smiling, encouraging her. "Eichi!" she ran even faster, trying to catch up with him._

_Somehow, no matter how fast she ran, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't catch up. Finally, she tripped on the uneven ground and fell to her knees, sobbing. Eichi had left her behind again, just like he had when he went to America. Why do you have to do this to me? She thought. She had been left behind, over and over again. Why couldn't he stop, even if it's just for a moment, and wait for her to catch up?_

_She felt someone pull her up by the arm. Looking up, she smiled in relief. "Takuto!" He smiled mysteriously, placing a finger on his lips. Setting her on her feet, he flew away, leaving her on the ground. "Takuto... Eichi..." her vision blurred so that she could no longer see. The tears rolled down her cheeks._

"Takuto!" she sat up in alarm. "Thank goodness it was only a dream..."

"Mitsuki!" Meroko flew towards her. "Your singing was great!" hesitating, she took a closer look at Mitsuki's eyes. "Were you crying?"

Mitsuki hastily wiped the tears away "No, I was just sleeping." She explained. "Where's Takuto?"

"I don't know." Meroko lied, knowing that he had probably turned into a ghost by now.

Meroko had never been a good liar, and something in her expression gave her away. Mitsuki immediately knew that Meroko had been lying when her face started to turn bright pink.

"Where's Izumi?" Mitsuki then asked, knowing that he wouldn't lie to her about this.

Meroko had long anticipated this. "H-he's out for a walk." She replied uneasily. In fact, she had told him to go for a walk, just so that Mitsuki wouldn't be able to find him.

"Takuto!" Mitsuki jumped up and ran off, searching for the shinigami. "Where are you, Takuto?"

"Mitsuki!" Meroko had a sudden brainwave. "He probably went for a walk with Izumi!"

"Mitsuki!" Ooshige looked into the waiting room. "It's time to go home."

"Yes, Miss Ooshige." Mitsuki quietly followed her manager into Wakaoji's car, hoping that Takuto had just gone for a walk, like Meroko said, or had simply fallen asleep somewhere.

_At Mitsuki's home..._

Mitsuki couldn't sleep. Somehow, the weak moonlight streaming through the windows made her feel even lonelier than before. Meroko had informed her that they had to return for a while to complete a few more missions.

Mitsuki somehow felt a sense of déjà vu. This situation, somehow, seemed all too familiar. Why had Meroko clamped Izumi's mouth shut and refused to allow him to say anything to her? Why had Takuto not visited her once more, at least? She felt so lonely.

_Why? _Had Takuto already become a ghost? He had, after all, failed yet another mission and regained a large portion of his memories. More than enough to make him disappear.

Haunted by doubts, Mitsuki finally sank into fitful slumber.

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A/N: I'm pathetic... Chapter 3 will be "Nightmare".  
I'll try my best!


	3. Nightmare

**A/N: Meroko and Izumi are now taking care of Mitsuki. This is unforgivably short, I know... TToTT**

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Nightmare

It was oddly warm and comforting. She felt somehow suspended, numb. Looking up, she saw faint rays of sunlight. _I'm drowning._ She didn't even care. Dying like this was as natural as simply falling asleep. _When I wake up, I'd see Eichi and Takuto again._

She closed her eyes.

Someone shaking her hard and yelling at her to wake up. Mitsuki slowly opened her eyes. "Takuto?" her mind cleared a little as the sunlight streaming through the open door registered. "Izumi?"

Izumi immediately released her and sat down, refusing to even glance at her in his embarrassment. "Morning." He announced in his usual fashion. Much as he hated to admit, he had been frightened almost to the point of a heart attack (figuratively) when she had refused to wake up earlier. She had even stopped breathing for a while.

"You almost died." He muttered to himself.

Mitsuki nodded, passively. "I know."

Izumi didn't trust himself to reply.

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"She almost died just now." Izumi finally found the courage to tell Meroko.

"How?" Meroko turned, alarmed. She had personally inspected the entire house and tried her best to remove any knives or other sharp objects, as well as all the medicines, including Mitsuki's own, beyond her reach. She had also ensured that at least her or Izumi would be here to feed Mitsuki her medicine and to stop any possible suicide attempts. Meroko's first thought was that Mitsuki had somehow found the aspirin or the penknife.

"She almost died in her sleep." Izumi gave Meroko a defeated look. "She stopped breathing for a while."

Meroko reeled at the mere thought of having to check Mitsuki's breathing very two minutes.

"She doesn't want to live anymore, does she?" Meroko finally asked. "Is it right to force her to live?"

Izumi replied with the cold facts. "We are not allowed to take her soul now. I don't want her to become a shinigami."

"But it's her life, isn't it?" Meroko was already worn down from days of trying her best to watch Mitsuki.

"She'll regret it. Even if she manages to leave this world, she would never be able to leave the next unless she becomes a ghost."

Mitsuki silently left the door. She had already heard more than enough.

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**A/N: Yep, Mitsuki heard the entire conversation. The nightmare is the living hell that they are all in.**

**The next chapter will be Meroko's Diary.**


	4. Meroko's Diary

**A/N: I decided to allow Meroko the comfort of having a diary to write in, because it's hard to say everything she feels, even if she really wanted to. This entry starts on the same day of "Nightmare".**

Meroko's Diary

I know we're just being selfish, that we're just doing all this for self-satisfaction. My heart hurts just seeing Mitsuki every day. Mitsuki just isn't _Mitsuki_ anymore. She's just an empty shell of a being. Today I found myself wondering if it would be easier for Mitsuki to die. I even considered a mercy killing.

After that dream, when she saw a book lying around, she would picked it up and appear to read it, but when I asked her if she liked the book, all she would do was to lift her head ever so slightly, stare at me vacantly, and give an almost imperceptible shrug.

She had cried when we had forced her to realize that Eichi was already dead and could not return no matter how much she sang. I had wondered why she anymore, until I had pointed this out to Izumi. He had avoided my gaze and muttered something. It was only when I had pressed him further when he admitted what he had been thinking, had always known.

"She has nothing left anymore. No tears to cry with." At this point, his voice had cracked. I looked away.

I try my best to get her interested in something, anything, but when I spoke of Eichi and Takuto, as a last resort, she had placed her hand on mine, shaking her head.

"_Don't..."_

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The Next Entry...

Mitsuki wanted to draw, so I got her paper and as many coloured pencils and pens as I could get my hands on. When she had picked up a pencil, I hoped that it was only for the basic outlines. Maybe drawing would cheer her up; I heard that it was a good creative outlet. To give some privacy, I left. Creativity, after all, was meant to be expressed better in solitude.

When I returned later, she had fallen asleep with her art next to her bed.

The first picture was of the blue in the ocean. Unlike most art of the sea, the viewer would have been underwater.

The second was of a sakura forest – with all the wrong colours. The grass was grey, the tree trunks white, the leaves a sickly greyish-yellow and the blossoms blood-red. The girl depicted in the picture was dressed in mourning black, with a scarlet sash around her waist and the same shade of shoes on her feet. A crown of multicoloured roses circled her head.

Roses had thorns.

Blue was for obsession.

Red for love. There was only a petal of it.

A couple of yellow roses. Yellow roses signified friendship.

White for death. It was the most abundant of all.

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**A/N: I could only think of this much... sorry...  
I originally wanted to use the sakura forest scene in her dream, but then I realized that I had already done that particular chapter.  
By the way, I would like to mention that Meroko missed a very important part of the picture: the ****girl in the picture had shackles on her wrists and legs.  
Poor Mitsuki.**

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	5. The little mermaid

**A/N: I had wanted to write something like this for a long time... trust me to kill Mitsuki... (my faulty conscience remains disturbingly silent... doesn't it at least come with a twenty-year warranty or something?!)**

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Mitsuki's PoV

I stood at the edge of the cliff, knowing that if I jumped, I would become a shinigami, become one that is trapped in a never-ending maze. I would lose my memories.

I didn't care anymore. All I wanted to do was to forget this pain, even if it was just for a moment, even if I would remember it eventually.

Just by living, I cursed everyone who knew me. Meroko's ears drooped from the disappointment of not being able to cheer me up; Izumi looked downcast and had an arm around Meroko's shoulders frequently in an effort to cheer _her_ up. Oshige, Wakaoji and Grandma all tried their best to encourage me to sing. They had all wondered why I had refused.

They would never know the truth.

I didn't want to sing because all who heard my song had been cursed.

Takuto. Eichi.

They had both died because of me.

"The chain that bound us... rotted in the sea..." I stepped closer, almost teetering on the edge. "Never..." Leaning forward, I stepped off the edge. "To return..." my voice, hoarse with tears, was nothing but a whisper lost in the wind.

Cold. The seawater soaked through my clothes and chilled me to the bone. I couldn't open my eyes. I couldn't see anything.

Instinctively, I tried to fight my way to the surface, to breathe in air again. Gasping from a lack of oxygen, my lungs filled with water. My chest burned. I must have been hallucinating, because I saw a golden-haired angel, reaching out towards me...

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Where was I? I wondered vaguely. Somehow, my thoughts were all masked in a strange mist. I couldn't think clearly.

"Your name is Fullmoon." Someone wearing a hood informed me.

"Fullmoon? As in Mitsuki?"

"You shall be named Fullmoon from now on."

"Y-yes."

"Meroko. I wanted to hand her over to Misaki, but since you were so determined to help her out, you may be her partner."

"Thank you." A cute girl with pink hair and rabbit ears bowed gratefully to him.

"Please take good care of me!" I said cheerfully, wondering why she looked so sad. Handing me a white dress and a pair of boots, as well as a headdress to match hers, she walked away.

"This way, Mitsu- I mean, Fullmoon. Sorry."

"It's okay. You can call me Mitsuki if you like."

"Thanks, Mitsuki." She smiled sadly. I wondered why she seemed so sad all the time and why she had wanted to become my partner.

"Why are you dressed all in black?"

"A... a good friend of mine died."

"Oh." I paused awkwardly for a moment, not knowing what to say. "Well, I'm sure she's in heaven now!"

Meroko nodded, lowering her head. I noticed a tear fall from her eye and wondered if it could have been a trick of the light.

"Anyway, I' m glad that I can be here with you, Meroko!"

Meroko shook her head, sighing.

"You shouldn't be..."

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**A/N: That's right... Mitsuki became a shinigami. Meroko wanted to become her partner so that she could take care of her and make sure that she doesn't become a ghost.**

**I didn't want to make Mitsuki "Mayako Kitsume" because that's what a lot of people use... and I insist on being unique... (laughs sheepishly). The white... it's kinda to match Eichi's. Besides, I like the idea of Mitsuki being a white angel.**

**Should I add a chapter for Takuto for his return before going on pre-exam hiatus??**


	6. Takuto

**A/N: Anime and manga spoilers ahead! Cookies and chocolate (as well as gingerbread cookies!) to anyone who can spot them...enjoy!**

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-Takuto's PoV-

I opened my eyes, disorientated, to be greeted by a sea of white. Nurses around me were in a frenzy, all yelling to each other to call for Dr. Wakaouji. Something at the back of my mind clicked, but sank into the abyss again before I could grasp it.

Who was this "Wakaouji" anyway?

I watched as a kind-looking doctor approached me, looking at clipboards, asking the nurses questions in a hushed tone, as if afraid that I would overhear. I frowned slightly. He seemed familiar, but I just couldn't place him. I could have sworn that I caught the words "brain damage" somewhere.

Finally, he turned to me, smiling as if we were old friends. "Takuto."

I stared in confusion. "Who's Takuto? He sounds... familiar." Unbidden, a single word burst free of an alien, unidentifiable sea of memories. "Mitsuki..." I lingered on the word, puzzled. "Who is she?"

The doctor tried to explain. He seemed surprised that I knew her, at first, but told me that she was one of his patients. She, like me, had throat cancer.

"Can I meet her sometime?" I enquired.

"Perhaps." Was all that he would say.

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Little by little, day after day, I learned – _re_-learned – to walk. Sometimes, I would recall something, and I would write it down for fear of forgetting it again. Remembering was both an exhilarating and excruciating process. Sometimes the thought would simply occur to me, but occasionally, they were accompanied by head pains.

Even as I balanced precariously on the walker that I was now allowed to use to go for short walks around the park near the hospital, I was given back a past, a history. Every day, my claim to existence in this world became more concrete, somehow.

Sometimes, at the corner of my eye, I think that I see a dark-haired girl with angel wings sprouting straight out of her back. Tears would stream down her face as she stared at me, but then she would smile and mouth, "Ganbatte, Takuto-kun."

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But when I turned to promise her that I would, or to ask her why she looked so sad, she would invariably be gone, just like the morning mist.

The image of the girl must have been a trick played on me by my mind. The girl herself was real. Mitsuki Kouyama, the one who had called us angels, refusing to regard us as the grim-reapers that we had always been represented as.

I wonder how she could have befriended us, knowing as she did that we would take her away eventually. Then again, she didn't regard us as the bringers of death as so many did, but as escorts to the next world, the next life, whatever that was.

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_Three years later..._

I have to see her. I _must_. After leaving her alone for three years, without a word, she would be worried, wouldn't she? I remembered the time when she had realised that Eichi was dead.

She doesn't deserve that pain.

I fiddled with the little cat that she had sewn for me. What would she look like, now, after three years? She would have grown taller, that's a certainty, but she would still be short. I imagine her eyes, her smile.

Tentatively, I pressed on the doorbell of the Kouyama residence. Come to think of it, I had seen her grandmother often before, but she hadn't seen me. What would she think? Imagining Mitsuki flustered, hurrying to make introductions, I allowed my lips to curve into a smile.

Mitsuki's maid answered the door. I noticed that she wore only black and white, which was rather unusual for her.

"Excuse me, is Mitsuki in?"

I watched as Mitsuki's grandmother hobbled to the door. Even though it had only been three years, her face was lined with grief and though she carried herself with dignity, I couldn't help but notice her swollen eyes, evidence that she had been crying before.

I suppressed my doubts and allowed myself to be taken inside. I was brought to Mitsuki's room.

Mitsuki's grandmother removed a stack of paper from a drawer, handing it to me. I saw a sketch of myself, done to perfect detail, on top of the stack. It was completely different from her first, rather silly and cartoonish sketch, I remembered.

"You're Takuto, arent' you?"

I nodded, struck dumb.

"She would have wanted you to have these." Fuzuki smiled wanly, squeezing my hand gently, as though she didn't have much strength in her hand. It occurred to me that she might not have much time left."Is Mitsuki here?" I asked again, confused.

"She... isn't here." Fuzuki replied softly. "I'll show you to the door."

It was only when I pestered Wakaouji that I found out that she had drowned herself.

The bundle of paper consisted of Mitsuki's sketches and letters to me, which had never been posted because she had thought that I would never have received them.

That night, when I had read them, for the first time in years, my eyes filled with tears for someone other than myself.

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_-End Takuto's PoV-_

Fullmoon watched regretfully as Takuto's tears rolled down his cheeks in his sleep. When she reached down to wipe them away, her hands passed straight through his face.

Straightening, she nodded to Meroko. "Let's go now. We have a job to do, after all."

Meroko nodded. She had seen too much of this, had felt too much of this, to be anything but indifferent now.

They flew away to watch over Fuzuki Kouyama.

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**A/N: Thanks for the requests and encouragement, everyone! At first, I kinda stalled on this little project for Takuto's chapter simply because I couldn't think of anything (interpret as: because I was too busy thinking of something else and doing my editing for AE. Lol.)**

**I was... (how do I put it?) a little sad for Takuto and Mitsuki, but he'll live.**

**(Spoilers for the above)  
Mitsuki had become a full Shinigami above, by the way. She really was there, telling Takuto to... a rough translation would have been "do your best", but I don't really think that it really captures the full meaning of the word.**


	7. Author's Request

Hi, everyone! Sorry for using a "chapter" for this, but I have absolutely no idea of how to place a poll on my profile.

After going through the story (again), I kinda decided that most of the chapters, with the exception of the last two, are... not quite worth reading. It appears that the QC was on vacation, so I'd like to reconstruct the whole thing.

I'd like some honest opinion here on the matter, so click the review option down there to tell me if you think that attempting to do a complete revamp is a good idea. As soon as I get to decide, I will delete this.

Here are the choices (though you can write whatever you want...):

1) Reconstruct before replacing the whole chunk in front  
2) Leave it as it is  
3) Write another version and post it separately without deleting anything

By the way, does anyone think that I ought to pick some music for the stories and leave the links on my profile? Music provides the mood after all...

Happy Chinese New Year!!! (I had better get more money from my relatives this year... for dying of boredom in their homes...)

Cheers anyway:)


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